Gina’s Comments (group member since Mar 11, 2014)

Gina’s comments from the Far From The Madding Crowd *group read* group.

I am still reading. I'm to the part where Boldwood has just gotten the Valentine from Bathsheba...well, right after that when it switches to Gabriel at the maltster and Boldwood is going to give him the mail he accidentally opened.

I was so sad about the sheep, though as soon as Hardy described that cleft in the hedge and the drop off, and then the dog went missing, I knew that was what would happen. It was such a tragedy - all those pregnant ewes, gone, and with them, Gabriel's success as a farmer. I was hoping George's son would not be killed, but the fact that he had no name, and that, as Lori said, no farmer would ever keep a dog who had done that, regardless of how innocently it was done, meant there really was no alternative. Nobody kept dogs as pets back then. They were kept because of the work they could do - herd sheep or cattle, kill rodents, etc. It is quite different from today, and so our sensibilities are inflamed when read about the dog being shot, but what else, really, could have been done? I am intrigued with where things will go with Bathsheba's life, and though I have taken about a week long break from the book, I am diving back in today.

Hi all! I'm Gina... I love to read, only have time to read in bed at night before I drop off into oblivion, or at the gym when I go. Sometimes that means I lag behind everyone else, even though I'm a fairly fast reader. I hope I can keep up with y'all! I do like the book so far, though the "old-fashioned" language has been slowing me down a bit. I find myself reading sentences over again. I've been reading too many modern books and haven't read classic British literature in ages. It takes getting into the flow. But I'm getting there. This will just whet my appetite for some Dickens and Austen.

I won't finish earlier. I'm still reading Tatiana & Alexander! LOL. But I will read this one as well.